Vietnam Culinary Tour 13 days

Upon your arrival at Hanoi airport, your tour guide and driver will greet you and escort you to your hotel, help with your check-in. The rest of day is for your relax.

After breakfast, you have a half day tour to explore Vietnam’s charming capital. With its wide tree-lined boulevards, French colonial architecture, peaceful lakes and ancient oriental pagodas, Hanoi is an eclectic mix that offers something for everyone. Visit Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and his personal residence, the One Pillar Pagoda. Then, visit the Temple of Literature, a place for worshipping Confucius and became the first University for the sons of mandarins. Followed by a visit to Ngoc Son Temple nearby Hoan Kiem Lake and back to your hotel for a rest.

Note: please note Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum is closed on Monday and Friday

Later, enjoy the food tour experience with a first visit to one of the local markets in the city to see all different kinds of food that used for a Vietnamese breakfast, lunch, dinner and understand more about life of Vietnamese.
Secondly, we walk to explore everyday life of Hanoian, try some more different dishes which are very special, popular and preferred such as: Banh Ran - Sticky rice pancake; Bun Cha - Hanoi Style Vermicelli with Grilled Pork; Hanoi grilled pork in stick; Banh My Pate – Stuffed French Baguette; Bia Hoi – Draught beer; Trung Vit Lon - Fertilized duck eggs; Egg coffee…
Finally, we will try Cha Ca - Fried Fish which is considered as one of the best dishes to try while you are traveling in Hanoi. This unforgettable Hanoi food tour will take about 4 hours and you will end the trip at your hotel

After breakfast, we transfer you to Hanoi cooking center.

9.30 am. Meet at HCC, enjoy a special “La Han” Vietnamese welcome tea
9.40 am. Brief introduction to Vietnamese cuisine, highlighting the contents of tradition meal.
9.50 am. Take a short walk to the Chau Long Market - Enjoy a tour of the market highlighting the ‘wet’ / unusual fruits / livestock / silk worms, with HCC chefs
10.20 am. Back to HCC and commence cooking class with HCC chefs, take home printed recipes as well as samples of some local fruit, green bean cake, quail eggs, etc.
12.00 pm. On completion of the cooking class, enjoy the meal and a chance to chat with Tracey Lister and Linh , relax in the comfort of the HCC dining area and enjoy a local beer or wine or lemon juice
1.00 pm. Finish Class, receive going home gift and visit the HCC shop with Vietnamese Culinary tools, books, spices etc available for purchase.

Afternoon is free at leisure.

We start at 8.00 A.M for the 3.5 hour drive (170 km) through the Red River Delta, which offers plenty of chances for taking photos of Vietnamese farmers tilling the vast green paddy fields. Stop at half way for taking a short break. Arrive at Halong City, check in and board your junk, enjoy approximately 24 hours journey in the amazing bay: a natural wonderland composed of jutting limestone islands and sparkling turquoise waters. Savor a gourmet lunch of fresh seafood onboard as we sail out into the mystical bay. In the afternoon, enjoy some activities in the bay, or just spend some time relaxing on board (Possibility to swim in the bay if weather permits). Dinner is served on board.

Note: Visits or activities will be slightly different depending on each junk’s itinerary. Your tour guide will be replaced by a local guide on board during your cruise.

Awake early and participate in Tai Chi on the top deck or simply relax and enjoy the sunrise over the bay’s towering islands. Enjoy a morning cup of coffee or tea, and a light breakfast before setting out to explore nearby islands by rowboat. Return to the junk then take advantage of the sundeck and admire the amazing rock formations of Bai Tu Long Bay as we navigate back to Halong City. Have brunch on board the boat before returning to Halong pier. Our guide and driver will meet you at the pier then drive back to Hanoi Airport for your flight to Hue. Upon your arrival at Hue airport, your tour guide and driver will greet you and escort you to the city, help with your check-in in hotel. The rest of day is for your relax.

After breakfast, spend an entire day touring the Vietnam’s former ancient capital. Start the day with a visit to the Imperial Citadel, home to the Imperial City and Forbidden Purple City – once the Emperor's private residence. The Imperial Citadel gives you a better understanding of the beauty of Vietnamese Royal architecture and culture. Then we will take a beautiful dragon boat trip along Perfume River and visit to Thien Mu Pagoda – one of the most popular attractions in Hue. In the afternoon, continue on your tour with the visit to King Ming Mang and King Khai Dinh tombs which are the most beautiful works of royal architecture of the Nguyen dynasty.

In the evening, enjoy a special Royal Dinne. Be King and Queen in Royal Dinner with Royal long dresses!

After breakfast, drive to Hoi An - highlight of any tour to Vietnam - is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site. This scenic drive passes through the fishing village of Lang Co before climbing over the Hai Van Pass (Pass of Ocean Clouds). On the way, stop in Danang to visit the Cham Museum, which contains the finest collection of Cham sculptures in the world and Marble Mountain - a well-known pilgrimage site with peaks, caves, tunnels and temples.

Upon arrival in Hoi An, free to take walking tour of the Hoi An ancient town centre.

Start the tour in the morning, visit Hoi An’s colourful market, and experience the amazing sights, sounds and aromas of this busy market. We will have the opportunity to interact with the local sellers and learn about all the ingredients to be used in the cooking lesson later.
We board the Red Bridge boat for a leisurely cruise (25 minutes) along the Hoi An River to the Red Bridge Cooking School. This is a chance to view local river life, so make sure your camera is handy. On arrival, we explore the cooking school’s herb garden, before learning about some of Hoi An’s and Vietnam’s well-known dishes. The cooking lesson runs for about 2 hours – the Red Bridge chefs first demonstrate each dish before we prepare the same dish ourselves. Included in the class is a brief introduction to Vietnamese food carving (plate decoration). After the lesson, we sit down and eat what we have cooked.

The rest of the day is free on your leisure.

Free at leisure until we pick you up and transfer to Danang airport for flight to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Sai Gon), the city that is famous with modern office skyscrapers, oriental style pagodas and food stalls along the street.
Upon your arrival at Tan Son Nhat airport, pick up and transfer to your hotel for check-in. The rest of the day is on your own.

After breakfast, we transfer you to Saigon cookery center for another interesting cooking experience where even inexperienced cooks can create tasty dishes within a few hours.
This course is a hands-on initiation to the Vietnamese Cuisine Art, giving you the opportunity not only to learn how to cook them and reproduce them once you return to your home country, but also to taste our delicious dishes. Besides the hands-on learning, it’s fun, entertaining and informative. Back to your hotel after lunch.

Free at leisure and overnight in a Ho Chi Minh hotel.

Today we will start our exploration of the Mekong Delta, a major rice producing area. This must be one of the most fascinating riverine deltas in the world. After breakfast, drive to Cai Be in the heart of the Mekong Delta. On arrival, we will make a boat trip to the Cai Be floating Market, visit villages and meet the people of the Mekong Delta. Along the way, stop at a candy factory and orchard garden, where you have an opportunity to listen to traditional music. Enjoy a relaxing lunch at a riverside restaurant, then cross the river by motorized boat to visit some fluvial islands and explore the countryside by bicycle. Then, get on pier at Vinh Long and drive to Can Tho for the night.

In the morning, we make the boat cruise to see the Cai Rang floating market (the nicest one with heaps of rowing boats), truly highlights of any Vietnam Tours where you will enjoy the beautiful scenery and see the daily activities of the locals who live along the Mekong canals. Then venture deeper into the country-side, passing traditional houses made of wood and palm leaves as you observe the activities of the local people. Return to Can Tho for lunch then drive back to Saigon, arriving in the late afternoon.

Free time at leisure for you to wrap up your memorable Vietnam Holiday until our tour guide escorts you to the airport for your departure flight. Goodbye and see you again.